Del juicio clínico al ensayo clínico

We continue the chassis rebuilding program with floor work: mobility get ups, rolling, rocks, bobs, goblet squats and halos. Along with crawling, these movements comprise our warm-up—much more in the beginning, then less and less as the body begins to rebuild itself. It requires a lot of effort, but offers benefits very quickly, and you have to do them frequently. Remember the goal at this point: to re-teach the brain to control the body as one piece; to re-teach the brain reflexive tension—the correct sequencing of muscle group activation; strengthening the core; stabilizing the joints; and reducing restrictions in the joints.

Running and crawling share the same contralateral locomotive movement pattern but during running, all of the ground reaction forces are transferred through the legs, as the spine resists compressive forces. While crawl- ing, less net forces are transmitted through two limbs, and the spine acts as a suspension bridge—being sup- ported by the pelvis and the shoulder girdle. For me, crawling is the absolute foundation of movement. We have seen crawling improve both healthy and unhealthy individuals. I have come to believe that everyone must own good crawling performance. It really doesn’t take very long, and it provides a solid basis for the higher movement patterns.

Practice deep belly breathing and feed-forward tension where applicable. Do this everyday. Improvements in these drills will carry over to seemingly disconnected areas of your fitness and movement. Our warm-up pro- gresses as such:

100ft crawl: hands and knees, forward and reverse. As coordination is gained, crawl up on the hands and feet, degrading down to the knees as you fatigue. You will progressively get stronger and go farther.

5 x Rocks, belly breathe, 5 x more rocks. 10 x bobs. Do this drill over a light bell. Then, pop to a squat and:

10 x goblet squat-to-halo drills, changing direction each time. Begin and end in the bottom of the squat. Last: mobility get ups. More at first, then, one long and slow: each side. Now you’re ready.

Are the right and left sides symmetrical? Are they just as hard, or as easy? What about the back-to-front and front-to -back rolls? If one side is more difficult, seek out that chal- lenge and build symmetry—this goes a long way to restoring movement quality.

My idea is that if one can perform segmental rolls both easily and symmetrically, this tool can be put away and checked only periodically. Use it as frequently as you like, but the gold is in rocking, bobbing, and crawling.

Rolling

Rolling is a great partner to the movement algorithm, especially in the beginning. Segmental rolling is the act of getting from the prone to supine, or vice-versa, by using the weight of the head and only one arm, or, only one leg. Segmental rolling resets posture, strengthens the core, and returns authentic movement by teaching prop- er muscle activation sequencing.

For a left-arm roll to the right, begin by lying on your back. Look to the right, push your head over your right arm as you bring your left arm over in the direction of the roll. Keep pushing the head and arm to the right until you roll, using no other limb for assistance—don’t push with your legs or other arm. The core must fire hard in order to move the head and arm and drag the lower body along. Reverse this process from the supine.

The weight of the head is critical—keep pushing the head in the direction of the roll until complete. Use each leg’s weight in the same manner. If you’re using additional limbs to finish the task, you’re only fooling your- self—do these rolls correctly for the benefits that they offer.

Roll from supine to the prone using only one arm and the head.

Then roll back again, still only using the one arm and the head.

Now use the weight of just one leg.

At times, pause in the “squat” and practice belly breathing. Ten is a nice even number of repeti- tions. I like to use both a narrow knees and a wide knees position—the latter patterns the squat without any of the typical restrictions when performed on the feet, and this contrib- utes to owning a good squat.

Rocking

Rocking

Rocking is performed from the quadruped position: the hands and knees are directly beneath the shoulders and hips. Imagine your spine wrapped around a large beach ball—pinch the back of your head and tailbone together. With chin high, try to look up at the ceiling and rock back and forth. Load the shoulders and actively push the hips to the heels—push yourself into a squat. Hold this posture strong while rocking forward and backward. Keep a pretty quick cadence as we’re trying to stimulate the vestibular system and reset posture through in- creased neural sensitivity.

Bobbing

Bobbing is nothing more than holding the squat position of the last rock and looking up and down. Posture is key here—look to the sky and wrap the spine around that beach ball. Holding that posture and actively push into the squat ... drop the head until the chin is in the chest. Then raise it back toward the sky. Repeat. 10-20 rocks and bobs are adequate. Use the wider knee stance to further simulate an actual squat position.

I like the “scared cat” position to stretch out: from the quadruped position, push the mid back skyward and suck in the abdomen. Stand up slow and enjoy the postural reset. These two movements can and should be done every day, and throughout the day—whenever the chair makes you feel rounded—get down and reset with rocks and bobs.

Push your hips to your heels—sit on your feet